


Ad Astra Per Aspera

by springhorton



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Alternate Dimension, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fantasy Crew, First Love, Found Family, M/M, New Beginnings, Star Trek AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:07:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24646144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/springhorton/pseuds/springhorton
Summary: Something is definitely not right. When multiple Star Trek characters, from multiple times, and multiple places, suddenly find themselves waking up aboard the same empty starship, they must work together to figure out how they got there and how and if they can ever make it home.
Relationships: Hugh Culber/Paul Stamets, Hugh | Third of Five/Spock
Comments: 7
Kudos: 20





	Ad Astra Per Aspera

It was quiet, too quiet. Yet, something in his mind told him this was right, the way it was supposed to be. Still, he wasn’t quite sure he believed it, not until he felt his mind slowly floating toward the surface. As the sleep drifted away, Hugh remembered that he was Hugh and slowly opened his eyes. He didn’t remember falling asleep, though, only that it had been peaceful. He blinked a few times and as he did so, came to the surprising realization that he had no idea where he was. 

Hugh sat up, internal mechanisms helping him to heft the weight of his Borg apparatus to a sitting position. He’d woken in strange places before, but it wasn’t something he liked to make a habit of. As a child, he’d emerged from a maturation chamber with almost no memory of what had come before, and just a few years earlier, he’d found himself in a holding cell on the USS Enterprise. Both had been life changing events, and his mind was already wondering what this new development in his life was going to mean. He glanced around, unable to discern much from his surroundings other than he seemed to be in very well decorated quarters. The room had a comfortable, though neutral look, a bit like he remembered Captain Picard’s ready room looking, but this was obviously someone’s personal quarters, given the bed he’d just woke up on. He knew he was on a ship as well; he could feel the hum of the engines. 

“Where am I?” he said out loud, though he wasn’t expecting an answer. His second question was wondering how he got there, but he kept that one to himself, and instead, go to his feet and looked around the room. He’d come a long way from that curious innocent of a few years ago, but he still felt strange and out of place as he slowly moved about. He finally began opening drawers and looking through things, but there was nothing to see. The room appeared unoccupied. 

The next logical step was to move beyond the room. He glanced at the door, using his optical sensors to try and glean as much information about what was beyond it as he could. He didn’t detect any anomalies or dangers, so he stepped up to it, passing a mirror as he did so. He glanced at himself, briefly cocking his head as he looked himself over, and then stepped out into the hallway. 

The hallway was wide and lit with a pleasant glow. The walls were a lovely shade of dusty rose with darker stripes and information terminals and the floor looked almost like some kind of stone tile. It was nothing like the darkness and metal of a Borg cube. Part of him still missed it, the green of Borg lighting and the coldness of the only home he’d ever known, but he liked this place much better. The door swooshed shut behind him and he glanced back at it warily. He knew that the first thing he should do was try to figure out where he was and find a power source for regenerating, but instead, he found himself simply wandering the hall curiously. 

He knew that something was definitely wrong. There was a certain familiarity to his life, to what his bed and his partner in it felt like. Sure, they’d been separated for a while, but since reconciling, the things that had felt lost to him were becoming home again. This was definitely not home. Hugh Culber’s eye flew open and he sat up in a cold sweat. He’d been through a lot the last year and his life was just starting to feel normal again. He wasn’t sure he could take anymore insanity, but apparently, insanity had come for him. As he’d suspected, Paul was nowhere to be found. He was alone in bed, if that’s what one could call it. Hugh was lying in an alcove next to a large port window. It reminded him of the reading nook his grandparents had in their house back on Earth. Only, outside this window was the vastness of space. He was breathing hard, and quickly turned his head to look around the room. He was completely alone. 

“Paul?” he called out as he stood up from the bench, but he knew he wouldn’t get an answer. The room was dimly lit by a couple of overhead lights, high in the ceiling. Hugh had to squint to try and make out the rest of the room. Cautiously, he moved forward, but it turned out to be what looked like a very homey office. There were a couple of chairs, an old-fashioned faux wood desk, along with a few bookshelves along the walls, and a locked door leading to who knows where. 

One thing was for certain, he was not on Discovery anymore, not unless someone had done a lot of redecorating. This felt more like someone’s study on a personal pleasure ship than an office on a starship. Hugh noticed that there were no personal belongings, though, no family pictures or anything else that made the office look like it was actually used. 

“Where am I?” Hugh whispered and then realized with another start that he had no idea how he’d gotten there, either. He rushed for the door, waiting impatiently as it swooshed open, only to find himself in what looked like personal quarters. He ran for the next door, not even bothering to look around the room, and when he finally made it outside, he was in a long, strangely colored hallway. It was a soothing, dark pink, unlike anything he’d ever seen on a ship, but instead of calming him, it only made him more anxious. He hadn’t really been alone since coming back from the mycelial network, and he hadn’t realized how stressed it would make him. He took a breath and tried to calm himself, hoping that maybe this was just a dream. 

He thought about simply going back into the personal quarters to wait, when he saw a glimpse of someone walking down the connecting hallway. “Wait!” he called out and ran to the junction. As he got there, the person turned, but what he saw made him gasp. He was a few inches shorter than Hugh, with greyish white skin and some kind of mechanical suit attached to him. 

“Who are you?” Hugh asked, breathlessly. 

The strange looking man cocked his head curiously. “I am Hugh.” 

Long fingers steepled together as he stared out at the stars beyond. There was something wrong with them, that much he knew for certain. The rest was still a mystery. An eyebrow raised, less from curiosity and more from mirth as he heard a gasp behind him. He turned in time to see his sister rise from her position of slumber. 

“Michael,” he said, gently, bringing her back from her obvious distress. 

Michael quickly glanced over at Spock and took a deep breath. It was as if she’d been frightened by something, or perhaps running, when she’d suddenly woken up where she was. She certainly didn’t remember a restful night’s sleep. 

“What happened?” she asked. 

Spock shook his head and looked back toward the port window. “I do not know. I woke here as well, shortly before you did, with no memory of how we got here.” 

Michael composed herself and got to her feet. “I don’t remember going to sleep.” 

“Nor do I. However, I’m certain we’re not where we were. The star formations suggest we are...a very long way away.” 

Michael stepped over beside her brother and stared out the window with him. It was only then that she realized the bigger implications. She glanced up at his still, calm form, and resisted the urge to reach over and touch his arm. 

“How are we here?” she asked, though it was mostly rhetorical. “I’d just led Discovery nine hundred years into the future. I...never thought I’d see you again.” 

“Nor I you,” Spock admitted, turning and giving her a half smile. “For me, it’s been many months since you left.” 

“Really?” Then she nodded. “Of course, time is relative. We’d only just arrived, and I’d sent out the last signal. Then...I don’t remember anything before waking up here.” 

Spock simply nodded, deep in thought. Though many ideas were currently circulating in his mind, it was the way of logic not to draw conclusions without facts. And they knew very little. 

“Perhaps our best recourse is to try and find out where we are,” he suggested. “The room is empty of personal items and I’ve found no computer interfaces other than a replicator.” 

“The logic dictates we go exploring,” Michael said with a smile. 

“That it does.” 

He felt the familiar hum of an engineering deck, but he knew instantly that something was different. It may have been engineering, but it wasn’t his engineering. Paul Stamets opened his eyes and blinked a few times in confusion. The lighting was almost right, but this was definitely not the USS Discovery. Instead of science stations and the cube and spore hub drive, a warp core sat to one side, safely concealed in its housing, but it was unlike any warp core he’d seen before. He squinted at it for a moment, and then turned to look around the rest of the room. He realized that there were science stations, but instead of being out in the open, they were neatly tucked into alcoves along the wall, leaving the floor plan mostly open, for what he could only assume was quick transit. 

Paul’s thoughts were consumed by curiosity. How did he get here? Where was here? Was this some ship they’d found nine hundred years in the future? At first glance, it certainly seemed more futuristic than Discovery, but not nine hundred years more advanced. Everything was recognizable to him, just...different. He slowly wandered the large room, which he noticed had two levels, glancing at controls, but resisting the urge to touch anything. When he’d seen most of it, his mind began to wander to other things, namely that he was alone, and that he had no idea where Hugh might be. 

Panic began to rise in Paul’s chest, but before it could fully manifest, he heard a voice. “Well, it’s about time you woke up. I thought you were going to stay there, curled up in that fetal position for the rest of my life.” It was a woman’s voice and he whipped around to find the most outlandish looking person he’d ever seen. 

Paul’s eyebrows stitched together. “Hello?” he ventured. 

“Good morning,” the woman said with a welcoming smile. Her dark eyes twinkled as she got up from the seat at the last science alcove. She was adorned in a sparkling dress, the sequins pink on one side and turquoise on the other so that the entire outfit seemed to change color at her every move. A bright pink boa was wrapped around her neck and her dark hair in an updo. “Lwaxana Troi,” she introduced. “Now, do you have any idea what I’m doing here?” 

“Um, Paul Stamets, and no,” he answered. “I take it you aren’t this ship’s engineer?” 

Lwaxana chuckled. “No, my dear, I’m not. I suppose you aren’t either, then. And I was hoping you’d be able to tell me what was going on.” 

Paul shook his head. “Afraid not. The last thing I remember was being aboard my own ship, the Discovery.” 

Lwaxana frowned. “Discovery? I’ve never heard of that one, but then again, I don’t keep track.” 

It was Paul’s turn to frown. He knew the plan had been to institute a directive that Discovery never be talked about again, that no one was to know about the spore drive technology or what had really happened to them, but he was surprised that people would forget about them this quickly. Then again, he supposed he never should have mentioned it in the first place. He winced but brushed the thought away. There were more pressing matters at hand. 

“So, you have no idea how you got here?” he asked. 

“No clue at all.” 

“No, me neither.” He quickly walked over to her alcove and began pressing controls. The time for being cautious had passed. 

“Are you sure you should be doing that?” Lwaxana asked. 

“Not really, but we aren’t going to figure things out just speculating.” 

“And what is that thing telling you?” 

Paul shook his head. “I’m not entirely certain. I’m getting specs for the ship, but they don’t make any sense. And none of it’s telling me where the ship is or how we got here.” He growled in frustration. “There’s no information database. It’s like the ship’s brand new and hasn’t been finished.” 

“Well, that’s not very comforting. Perhaps we could find someone else who knows what’s going on?’ 

“I don’t see anything about a crew either. It’s very possible we’re the only people here. None of this makes sense, though.” 

Lwaxana rolled her eyes. “No kidding.” 

“No, I mean, this ship isn’t sitting at a space station somewhere. We’re moving. And if there’s no crew...” 

“Then who’s controlling the ship?” 

“Exactly,” Paul answered. 

The two of them quickly found the door, Paul hunting up a tricorder along the way. He wasn’t sure there was much it could tell them, but it made him feel safer, like a scientific security blanket. He quickly scanned the door, making sure there wasn’t anything like open space on the other side, and then held his hand up to a sensor. It scanned his hand and then the door swooshed open. To their surprise, it led to nothing more than a small waiting area for the turbolifts. 

“I guess there’s nothing else on this level besides engineering,” Paul pointed out. “We’ll have to find somewhere else to go.” 

“For instance?” Lwaxana asked, not sure whether she liked this slightly too astute young man. 

“The bridge is always a good choice if you want to find out who’s in charge.” He stepped over to the turbo lifts and called for one. His eyebrows knit as he noticed one was already moving in their direction. 

The two of them waited in awkward silence as the turbolift lumbered down from midship, and then they watched breathlessly, as the doors opened. 

“Commander Sisko?” Lwaxana exclaimed in disbelief. 

Paul watched curiously as Lwaxana gabbed away at the one she’d called Sisko, and the Commander listened graciously, but with a distinct air of frustration at seeing her. A small smile crossed his face. Well, at least someone knows each other, he thought, but it caused a pang of worry to grow in his chest again. 

“Shall we?” he finally said, gesturing toward the open turbolift doors. 

The two of them turned to him and Sisko smiled, still somehow managing to look frustrated at the same time. “Missus Troi-” 

“Lwaxana, please.” 

He nodded. “Lwaxana, you didn’t tell me you had a friend.” 

“We’ve only just met,” Paul corrected. “We woke up in engineering together.” 

“Well, not together,” Lwaxana added, though her face suggested it wasn’t a wholly bad idea. 

Paul gave her a double take and then tried to ignore her. “We were going to see if we could get to the bridge, in the hopes that someone was actually flying this thing. Lieutenant Commander Paul Stamets,” he added, “USS Discovery.” 

Sisko gave him a quizzical look. “I haven’t heard of it. Commander Benjamin Sisko, Deep Space Nine.” 

The two men shook hands and Paul said, “I haven’t heard of that either.” 

Sisko’s frown of curiosity deepened. “Is it possible we’ve been brought here from different times?” 

Paul liked him immediately. “I hadn’t thought of that possibility. I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of that possibility. Yes, Commander. I suppose it is within the realm of possibility.” 

With that, Sisko waved them back into the turbolift and it headed back up to the bridge. Unfortunately, they stopped a few levels below it and the lift refused to go any further. 

As the doors opened, Sisko said, “Seems someone doesn’t want us up there.” 

The three of them stepped out into another corridor, one pleasantly decorated and welcoming. Like all the other parts of the ship they’d seen, the hallway was quiet except for the hum of engines; no footsteps, no people talking, it seemed they were the only three people in the world. 

Sisko stroked his well maintained goatee and threw up a hand. “I don’t like this,” he grumbled. 

“Tell me about it,” Paul returned the tone. 

“What kind of rescue is this?” Lwaxana complained. “You’re Starfleet officers for heaven’s sake. Shouldn’t you be figuring this out?” 

“Believe me, we’re trying to,” Sisko replied. 

Suddenly, a faint voice drifted to them from another corridor. Paul quickly glanced at Sisko, his expression asking whether they should retreat or investigate. 

“Come on,” Sisko said quietly. He and Paul rushed down the corridor, leaving Lwaxana to follow behind at a walking huff. 

“I really don’t see what the rush is,” she complained to herself. 

Paul’s heart was pounding, afraid of what he’d find, but secretly hoping for someone specific. As he turned the corner, he recognized the back of Hugh’s head immediately. He’d recognize it anywhere. 

“Hugh?” he called out in relief as Commander Sisko ran up beside him. 

Both men at the other side of the corridor turned and gave him a curious look and it was only then that it registered to Paul that there were two people. His breath caught in his throat and he took a step back. 

“What is that?” he whispered. 

“A Borg,” Sisko growled. 

Paul’s head snapped in his direction. “A what?” Then he turned back to his husband looking just as confused as he must have. 

“They are part machine and port organic and they destroy entire civilizations.” 

“Hugh!” Paul called out again. He slowly moved toward his husband, holding out a hand. “Hugh, I think you should get away from that thing.” He suddenly found himself scrambling the rest of the distance between them and grabbed Hugh’s hand. “That thing is dangerous,” he hissed. 

“It’s a he, Paul,” Hugh answered. 

“Commander Sisko says it’s a machine and its people destroy civilizations.” 

“Well, are they people or machines?” 

“Hello?” came a nearby voice and both men turned to look at the Borg. “I am Hugh,” he said. 

“Excuse me?” Paul said, his voice rising in fear and anger. 

“He’s not mocking me, Paul. His name is Hugh too.” 

Paul shook his head, feeling like something inside it might be malfunctioning, but before he could say anything, the Borg said, “Why am I here?” 

“What are you doing over there? Get away from it!” Sisko yelled, reaching for a phaser but there wasn’t one at his side. 

“I mean you no harm,” Hugh insisted, turning with a pleading look to the other Hugh. 

Doctor Culber frowned and looked back to Paul. “Look, I don’t know who he is, but he’s done nothing to make me think he’d hurt me.” 

As Paul glanced back and forth between Sisko and Lwaxana, who’d finally caught up with them, and his husband, footsteps suddenly came from yet another corridor in the maze like ship. As everyone glanced that direction, Spock and Michael suddenly emerged. 

“Burnham?” Paul and Hugh said in tandem. 

“Mister Stamets? Doctor Culber?” Spock said, sounding surprised and intrigued. 

Hugh Borg turned to look at the newcomers behind him and noticed their eyebrows cock simultaneously. He had no idea who any of these people were and he found it odd that most of them had no idea about the Borg. He glanced back at the one called Sisko. He didn’t recognize him either, but the man still looked very angry at him. Hugh’s heart sank as he realized that the man had probably lost family or maybe even a whole world to the Borg. He shook his head, trying to look apologetic, but it only seemed to make the man angrier. 

“What are you doing here?” Paul blurted out. 

“What are you doing here?” Burnham replied, amused. “And who’s this?” 

“We’re still trying to work that out. Commander Sisko over there says he’s dangerous. He’s called a Borg.” 

“I am not Borg,” Hugh said, trying to sound firm. He was shocked by just how insistent he was. Softening his tone at their looks of surprise, he added, “I am Hugh.” 

“Hello Hugh,” Spock said. “I am Spock.” 

The two men cocked their heads simultaneously, causing a small smile to cross Michael’s face. 

“Hello Spock,” Hugh said, taking in the man’s dark beard and pointed ears. “You are Vulcan.” 

“Yes. And you?” 

Hugh’s face fell. “I’m not sure anymore. I was Borg, but now I am just me and I’m not sure what that means.” 

“Who are the Borg?” Michael asked. 

Suddenly Sisko was there, tired of holding back his anger, tired of no one heading his warnings. “The Borg are not a race,” he growled. “They take people by force and turn them in to cybernetic abominations, stealing their memories and cultures and storing them in databanks, and leaving the individuals as mindless drones to do the Collective’s bidding.” 

Looks of shock went around the room, except for Hugh Borg, who winced at Sisko’s words and looked away in shame. 

“Is that true?” Paul said, the first to get his brain around it all enough to speak. He glanced at the Borg expectantly. 

“Yes,” Hugh answered. It was a simple statement and he didn’t offer more. Only after they had all turned to him, their welcoming looks changing, he said, “But I am no longer one of them. I...was taken by them as a child, I think, because I don’t have any clear memories from...before. But I was separated from the Collective and shown how to be an individual. I was sent back to the Collective for a time, in order to protect those who had rescued me. Something went wrong, though, I don’t know exactly what...and then I woke up here.” 

Sisko shook his head, not sure whether to believe it. And suddenly, everyone was looking to him to see what to do. “I don’t think we can trust it,” he answered, but his voice waivered. “I’ve never seen a Borg do this kind of trick though. We should find the brig and keep it there until we figure things out.” 

“I don’t think that’s warranted,” Hugh Culber complained. 

“Maybe he’s right, babe,” Paul said. 

“No, please don’t,” Hugh Borg pleaded. “I can help. I don’t want to be alone.” 

“I don’t think we have a choice,” Michael said. 

Sisko stepped forward to take Hugh’s arm, but he stepped back into Spock. 

“No,” Hugh pleaded again. 

“Wait!” a voice boomed from behind Lwaxana. 

They all turned and Sisko and Lwaxana gasped. 

“Is he with you?” Paul asked Sisko. 

“No, he’s from the USS Enterprise,” Sisko answered. 

Paul, Hugh Culber, Spock, and Michael all turned and gave each other looks of surprise. 

“How can that be?” Hugh whispered. 

“We’ve been considering the possibility of some of us being from different times, but...it wasn’t really a serious consideration until now,” Paul said. 

“We were just about to detain the Borg,” Sisko stated. 

“You don’t have to do that,” the newcomer cut in. “I know him. Hello Hugh.” 

“Hello Commander Riker.”


End file.
